Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. -- Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst took part in a recent exercise, the Aerial Port of the Future (APoF) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD), which aims to revolutionize the way personnel and cargo are processed and transported. The APoF JCTD delivers 10 capabilities that will dramatically modernize Army, Navy and Air Force air terminal operations for processing cargo and passengers.
This exercise took place over several days in August 2022 at Joint Base MDL. Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE), Virginia, and Quonset State Airport, Rhode Island, executed by a blended team of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army personnel. One of the primary objectives of JCTD was to reduce technical risk through the use of experimentation and prototyping. One of the new innovative capabilities being demonstrated was simplifying the process of how the planning of the airfield went using Android phone app.
“The Android Tactical Awareness Kit, or ATAK, is a suite we can use to see where our cargo or personnel are moving,” said Tech. Sgt. Joshua Fuleki, 321st Contingency Response Squadron, Aerial Port Flight section chief. “We can use GPS tags and GeoFencing in a layout similar to what you would see on Google Maps and then place where we want them to be. The app works in real time so other users can see, including notifications when certain tags move to another area. We’re testing this capability to see how we can use it for airfield assessment.”
APoF seeks to deliver more logistics with safer working conditions, an improved passenger experience, improved in-transit visibility of cargo and a communications infrastructure that offers scalable solutions at main operating bases, and when needed, expeditionary locations.
“We can set up an airfield how we want it to be before we even get there,” said Tech. Sgt. Glenn Maloney, 321st CRS noncommissioned officer in charge of Tactics. “We can designate things like aircraft parking, secure locations and even defensive positions. This allows for better planning and using it in this exercise allows us to identify further specifically what we need.”
Additionally, this was a ‘no notice’ exercise. This means cargo and personnel tasked to support Joint Task Force Port Opening (JTF-PO) were also processed at the same time to simulate a deployment execution, allowing for a more extensive demonstration of capabilities.